Wednesday, December 24, 2008

100 More Things

Since we were going to be spending the entire day in the car driving to Santa Barbara today, I decided to borrow this meme from my friend Mary, since I didn't think I'd really have anything interesting to write about.

The drive went well. We are listening to the audio book "The Black Echo" by Michael Connolly. Walt said that things like that tend to put him to sleep, but this was so gripping it kept him awake. We've only listened to half the book and have the other half to listen to on the way home.

The drive was uneventful, and we stopped at Pea Soup Anderson's for dinner. Now we are at Alice Nan's house, which is nicely decorated for Christmas and tomorrow I'll be making pumpkin pies!

Now here's Mary's "100 more things." It's similar to other lists I've seen, but I haven't done this specific list before. Things I've done are bolded and, where possible, I've added descriptive comments

1. Started your own blog. Well, duhhh. I started this one in March of 2000, on what was then Geocities. It's still hosted by Geocities, now owned by Yahoo (or is it now owned by Google?). 2. Slept under the stars. Often, in the days when we used to camp, before we had kids and needed to buy a tent. 3. Played in a band. 4. Visited Hawaii. How many times? - Three times, I think. Once in 1960 with my mother, twice with Walt (once to visit Mike Blackford, who was living there and to revisit all the haunts Walt remembered from his childhood there, once with some Brasilians who treated us to time on Kauai in a time share. 5. Watched a meteor shower. Sometime in the 1960s, somewhere near the Sierras. I've never forgotten it. It was spectacular. 6. Given more than you can afford to charity. 7. Been to Disneyland (and Disney World). I've been to Disneyland so often I don't care if I ever go again. We took each kid once, went as chaperones for the Jazz choir for several years, and took many of our foreign guests. The last time I went was with Peggy. 8. Climbed a mountain. Early in my pregnancy with Jeri, we climbed to the top of Mt. Lassen. As I recall it was a trail to follow, not anything that required special equipment. 9. Held a praying mantis. We used to have a pet praying mantis that we kept in a terrarium and I would catch live flies for it. 10. Sang a solo. Not a solo, but a duet. Our alto soloist wasn't available, for a Mass we were doing, so the director made me and another girl "the Benedictus girls." 11. Bungee jumped. Not on your life. 12. Visited Paris. Once, for a day. I caused an international incident. 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. Does PhotoShop count? 15. Adopted a child. Not one that I could hold in my lap, but several through Foster Parents Plan and Christian Children's Fund. 16. Had food poisoning. 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. What a thrill that was. It made me sad when they stopped letting people do that. 18. Grown your own vegetables. Fresh corn on the cob, tomatoes covered with tomato horn worms and zucchini the size of watermelons. My year of being an earth mother. 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. Maybe next time. 20. Slept on an overnight train. We took the train to Seattle. We slept sitting up in the seats--so much more comfortable than trying to catch a nap on a plane! 21. Had a pillow fight. 22. Hitch hiked. 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. 24. Built a snow fort. 25. Held a lamb. Fed baby lamb from a beer bottle with a nipple attached to it when I was in Australia. 26. Gone skinny dipping. Once, in my father's pool. He promised nobody would watch Walt and me and then afterwards made it seem like the most lurid thing we could do. My father was always great at making sex sound dirty and disgusting. 27. Run a Marathon. Surely you jest. 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice. 29. Seen a total eclipse. The best was a total eclipse of the sun, which was the weirdest experience ever. 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. I love a beautiful sunrise or sunset. 31. Hit a home run. 32. Been on a cruise. Just once, on the canal boat from London to Oxford. Some day, before glaciers are gone forever, maybe I'll make that Alaska cruise. 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. A couple of years ago. It lived up to all the hype. 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. As our ferry boat approached Dublin, I literally "felt my heart leap up," as I felt I was "going home" for the great grandmother I never met. I also visited Scotland, but didn't have that same feeling. 35. Seen an Amish community. 36. Taught yourself a new language. I sort of became "conversant" in Portuguese just by having so many Brasilians living in our house. 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (in general). We'll never be rich, but I'm satisfied with what we have. 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person. 39. Gone rock climbing. 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David. -- does the version at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas count? 41. Sung karaoke. 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. Seemed kind of silly, all us people sitting on bleachers watching a hole in the ground...but it was cool when it finally erupted. 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant. Not in a restaurant, but I did buy a whole Chinese meal in the supermarket for two homeless guys who were sitting outside holding "hungry" signs. We bought gift certificates for a woman standing outside Denny's with her child begging. 44. Visited Africa. 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight - in Hawaii 46. Been transported in an ambulance. - after my bike accident 47. Had your portrait painted. It hangs over my desk and was painted by a doctor I worked for. It's called "Bev Word Goddess Circa 1998.

48. Gone deep sea fishing. 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person. 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I've not only been to the top, but I walked down to the bottom afterwards...accidentally. 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. 52. Kissed in the rain. 53. Played in the mud. 54. Gone to a drive-in theater. 55. Been in a movie. Do Ned's movies count? 56. Visited the Great Wall of China. 57. Started a business. I did cake decorating out of my house for a couple of years, and only after I quit did I realize how many health regulations I was in violation of! 58. Taken a martial arts class. 59. Visited Russia. 60. Served at a soup kitchen. - Only helping to work at the Holiday meal here in town (which I will be missing this year) 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies. 62. Gone whale watching. Killer whales in Puget Sound and humpbacks in Australia. Also saw a mom and baby humpback playing off South Beach in Hawaii. 63. Got flowers for no reason. 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma. - regularly, when my hematocrit is high enough. 65. Gone sky diving. See "bungee jumping." - pulleeze. No way 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp. 67. Bounced a check. - Not deliberately. 68. Flown in a helicopter. Flying from the Oakland airport to the SF airport. It was VERY loud. 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial. Awe inspiring. 71. Eaten Caviar. Too salty 72. Pieced a quilt. Made quilts for all the kids one Christmas, made a quilt for our La Leche League leader. Thus endeth my homemaking years. 73. Stood in Times Square. In all honesety? Too busy for me. I don't like NYC. 74. Toured the Everglades. 75. Been fired from a job. 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London. - Though we have been in London many times, we've never stuck around for the changing of the guard. 77. Broken a bone. I've broken toes a few times. 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle. 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. We were rushing from Oakland to catch a train in Colorado, so we had about an hour to appreciate the canyon 80. Published a book. It was a home-published book. Two of them, the history of The Lamplighters, in San Francisco. 81. Visited the Vatican. 82. Bought a brand new car.- our GMC van, "The Jolly Green Giant." 83. Walked in Jerusalem. 84. Had your picture in the newspaper. - more times than I care to think about. 85. Read the entire Bible. 86. Visited the White House. Just after Jackie Kennedy did her remodeling, and once again sometime later. It made me sad to see all the safety precautions that had been installed in the intervening years. 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. (I leave that sort of thing to vice presidential candidates) 88. Had chickenpox. 89. Saved someone’s life. 90. Sat on a jury. It was a cemetery desecration case and we found the guy innocent, even though we felt he was probably guilty--but the prosecution had not proved the case. 91. Met someone famous. In 1961, I met Judy Garland. In 2001 (I think) I sat at a cocktail reception with Carol Channing (when Steve's partner Jimmy introduced us and then wandered off leaving me tongue-tied). 92. Joined a book club. Book clubs are very big in this town but they all seem to be long-running and it is impossible for a newcomer to break into the group. 93. Lost a loved one. Too many. 94. Had a baby. Too many! (LOL) 95. Seen the Alamo in person. The thing I remember most was the bullet holes in the walls. 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake . - I haven't swum in it but I've seen it. Too many times (nothing more boring than having to drive the road alongside the Great Salt Lake. Best done at night, which I've also done. 97. Been involved in a law suit. Only the band by the same name!! 98. Owned a cell phone. 99. Been stung by a bee. 100. Read an entire book in one day. Can't remember any titles specifically, but I've done it more than once. Give me a gripping book, a comfy chair and don't bother me until I've finished.